Dog-friendly Exmoor & the Exe

A sixteenth-century village pub at Challacombe, on the Devon side of Exmoor between Blackmoor Gate and Simonsbath. The pub keeps refreshments in specially for four-legged visitors, and the surrounding lanes and open moor make it a natural halfway stop on a long Exmoor walk.

A thirteenth-century coaching inn on the clifftop at Countisbury, a mile above Lynmouth and surrounded by Exmoor. Dogs are allowed with you in every part of the inn except the main restaurant, and a few specially chosen bedrooms take them at fifteen pounds a night, with a hamper of ball, treats and waste bags on arrival. Dogs must not be left alone in the rooms.

A family-run inn on the banks of the East Lyn at Brendon, deep in the Exmoor valleys and a short drive from Watersmeet. Dogs are welcome to stay in the en-suite rooms at seven pounds fifty a night, which is among the cheapest dog charges in the county; bed and breakfast starts at sixty-two pounds per person per night for two sharing.

Seven miles and about three hours from the packhorse bridge at Malmsmead up Badgworthy Water into the Doone Valley, onto Brendon Common and back by bridleway, with 330 metres of climbing on uneven ground and some steep sections. Start at Lorna Doone Farm at Malmsmead, where the paid car park is the only parking and the tea room and toilets sit beside it; the lanes in from County Gate are steep, narrow and unsuitable for anything long. This is superb dog country with the stream beside you for the first two miles and open bridleway running above, but the common is grazed by Exmoor ponies, sheep and red deer, the National Park asks for dogs on a lead or under close control throughout, and there is a river ford at the start that runs deep after rain.

A full day of 12.5 miles, five to six hours, climbing out of Dulverton onto the ridges and moorland above the town and returning the whole length of the wooded Barle valley by the clapper bridge at Tarr Steps, with 480 metres of climbing on lane, moor track and a long rooty riverside path. Start from the pay-and-display car park by Exmoor House in Dulverton, which has toilets and shops for supplies and is the only substantial parking in the town; there is no useful bus link along the route so it has to be walked as a loop. For a fit dog it is one of the best days on Exmoor, shaded and watered by the Barle for the entire second half, but the high ground is grazed by sheep and ponies, several field gates have narrow stiles beside them, and the riverside path is rocky enough underfoot to wear soft pads by the end.

A gentle two miles and an hour along both banks of the River Heddon to the shingle beach and lime kiln where it meets the sea between some of the highest cliffs in England, with only 80 metres of climbing and slight inclines throughout. Start at the National Trust shop in the Heddon Valley, which has a car park free to members with paid spaces otherwise, plus toilets and a small café, and sits beside the Hunter's Inn at the bottom of a long steep hill from the A39. Dogs are welcome and the river gives them deep clear pools all the way down, though the Trust asks for leads because there is livestock in the fields either side, the beach is shingle rather than sand and the sea here shelves fast into cold water.

Three quarters of a mile of level forest track beside the River Barle a mile above Dulverton, twenty-five minutes there and back with barely any climbing and a firm surface suitable for most wheels. Park in the small free layby at Marsh Bridge itself, which takes half a dozen cars on the lane between Dulverton and Winsford, or walk out from the town along the road for an extra mile in each direction. It is the gentlest dog walk on this side of Exmoor with shallow gravel-bottomed pools to stand in and no stiles or gates to lift a dog over, though the lane at the bridge is narrow with fast traffic and the fields across the river are grazed.

Two and a half miles there and back up the upland valley of the Barle to the ruined mine workings at Wheal Eliza, an hour and ten minutes with 90 metres of climbing on grass and stony riverside path with a few gates. Start at the free village car park at Simonsbath by the old sawmill, which has toilets and is the only parking for miles in the middle of the moor; the village pub and tea room are a two-minute walk away. Dogs do well on this one with the Barle alongside for the whole route, but the valley is grazed by sheep and Exmoor ponies drift down off the moor above, so a short lead near stock is the rule, and the old mine shaft area is fenced but the ground around it is broken.

Five and a half miles and about three hours along the wooded cliffs of the Exmoor coast to a Roman fortlet and the lost Victorian resort of Woody Bay, dropping to Hunter's Inn and climbing back by bridleway, with 420 metres of climbing on coast path, tracks and one long lane pull. Start from the free roadside parking above Woody Bay on the Martinhoe lane, which holds perhaps fifteen cars and is reached down a mile of very steep single track from the A39. Dogs get shade and running water most of the way and the Heddon river at Hunter's Inn is a proper swim, but the coast path here is narrow with a long drop to the sea through the trees, sheep and cattle graze the returning fields, and the tarmac descent to Woody Bay beach is severe enough to jar an old dog's shoulders.